


Baby Blues

by edgy_fluffball



Series: Tumblr prompts [8]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Genre: Discussing Future Plans, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-29 23:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17817674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edgy_fluffball/pseuds/edgy_fluffball
Summary: Ben takes care of a sick Gwilym whose filter is a little out of place one evening.





	Baby Blues

Gwilym had been a little under the weather for days before Ben could persuade him to lie down on the sofa after feeling him burning up under his hand. He protested, demanded to get to walk around as much as he wished but Ben merely pulled a blanket over him and pressed a kiss to his temple.

‘You are not going anywhere, mister, you stay seated here. I’m going to get you another cup of tea and some yoghurt,’ Ben fluffed up the pillows Gwilym had dragged into the living room when he first started to feel unwell.

It had started with a sore throat and a few sneezes, then grumpiness and dazed eyes. Ben had forced him onto the sofa, mainly because it was closer to the bathroom and Gwilym complained about their mattress being too soft. He had not moved from the couch for two days, despite his attempts. Ben made sure he did rest.

A sick Gwilym required exponentially more attention, care and mothering than usual, Ben found out. He got clingy after the first day and refused to let go of his hand after he brought him a light lunch of chicken broth and peppermint tea, both of which he did not finish. Instead, he pulled Ben onto the sofa with him and put his head in his lap. Ben complied, setting the cup of tea aside and stroking his hair until Gwilym recoiled, body convulsing, reaching out for the bucket Ben had put next to the sofa, just in case.

Ben held him whilst he emptied his stomach of what little he had eaten, running his fingers through the short hair in Gwilym’s neck. He had kitchen towels and a glass of water at the ready, offering both to wipe and rinse his mouth.

‘Thank you,’ Gwilym sounded weak and sank back into his lap, ‘I’m sorry.’

‘What are you sorry for?’ Ben dabbed his forehead with a wet cloth, carefully trying to cool his skin down a little, centimetre by centimetre.

‘I’m filthy,’ Gwilym whispered, eye lids drooping, ‘I feel disgusting.’

Ben put his palm back to Gwilym’s forehead, ‘You’re still burning up, babe, but I can’t give you more drops just yet. Do you want a little more water and another blanket?’

Gwilym shook his head in his lap, letting it loll from one side to the other. Ben wanted to kiss him better but opted against it, knowing that his boyfriend still was a contagious germ factory, ready to take down whatever stood in its way.

‘I could get you a book or your laptop?’

‘Nah,’ Gwilym curled into him, fumbling for his hand. His voice began to sound croaky, ‘I want to sleep.’

‘Go to sleep then, babe,’ Ben stroked his damp hair, ‘I’m going to be in the kitchen –‘

The grip around his wrist tightened, not much because Gwilym seemed to struggle bringing up the strength to lift his head from his lap. He looked up at him pleadingly, eyes wide and feverish.

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he answered. Gwilym hummed contently and closed his eyes. Ben tangled his fingers in his sweaty hair, bent down and pressed a kiss to his head, ‘I’m staying with you until you are asleep. Your body needs the rest right now, babe.’

‘You are right, why are you right?’ Gwilym slurred his words, nudging Ben’s thigh with his head, ‘you are so sensible. Sensible. Reasonable? What’s the word I’m looking for? It’s not that.’

He frowned, wrinkling his forehead. Something indistinguishable spilled from his lips and Ben, trying his hardest to understand what he was uttering. It seemed like a string of nonsense at first, sounds put together at random to make up noises that he could not comprehend.

Gwilym turned his head around and into the pillow he rested on, ‘You know how sensible you are, Ben? You are sensible enough to be a dad. A baby daddy.’

Ben shook his head softly and combed his fingers through his hair, ‘What are you saying there, you really need to sleep this off, hm?’

‘I mean it,’ Gwilym looked up at him, a sulky expression on his face, ‘you would be a great dad.’

Ben had opened his mouth to say something but it was stuck in his throat. Gwilym’s eyes slipped shut and he started to snore softly before he could respond something, leaving him to stare at the soft face buried in the pillows and blankets he had dragged into the living room to make staying on the sofa as comfortable as possible for his boyfriend. His lips were slightly apart, allowing him to breathe easier than through his blocked nose.

He let his hand rest on Gwilym’s head for a moment, carefully combing through his hair before getting up, pulling the blanket over his shoulders and retreating to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. Sitting at the kitchen table, a steaming mug in his hands, staring out the window, he allowed his thoughts to drift off, back to what Gwilym had mumbled before falling asleep. The thought of starting a family, having kids, taking the next steps, scared him. Gwilym, his beautiful, wonderful, caring boyfriend and his seven years on him scared him. He had known that his partner wanted a family, wanted kids, wanted the whole thing his mother had always wished for him to have – but Ben could not help but think about how stressful and unstable their lives were and what sacrifices they made already, with just the two of them affected.

He had to force himself to come back to the reality of his kitchen and the cooling tea in his hand. His entire body shivered when he remembered Gwilym sleeping on the sofa, softly smiling, not knowing about the emotional turmoil his half-asleep uttering had caused him. Ben rubbed his temples and sighed deeply, feeling his insides flutter. His fingers shook and he trembled with the impact the thought had on him. He had not thought about it with an intensity comparable to what he experienced, he had not felt the need to think about whether he was ready.

Gwilym had a fever, he had been sick for a couple of days and whatever he said before falling like sleep might be affected by that condition more than Ben was ready to accept. His thoughts returned to the prospect of having a child, a small, living being running around their home, waddling up to Gwilym and him, someone to watch as they grew, someone to take care of together with Gwilym, someone to give a home and raise until they left that home only to come back for Christmas dinners and to introduce them to their partners.

Ben pushed his chair back and got up, placing his cold mug in the sink. He went back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed that felt too big without Gwilym next to him. The exhaustion of another day looking after his boyfriend got to him eventually, he fell asleep on top of the covers, curled up around one of the remaining pillows, head swimming with thoughts and worries.

He woke up because a blanket got dragged over him. It felt like one of the warm, fuzzy fleece blankets they kept in the living room for their movie nights, warm enough to keep them warm as they cuddled on the sofa. Ben snuggled into the soft touch on his shoulder, feeling his drowsy thoughts clinging to the last seconds of sleep he could get before his mind caught up with his body.

‘What are you doing, hm?’ a soft voice asked close to his ear, ‘Please don’t tell me you’re getting sick now, sweetheart.’

Ben grumbled, burying his face in the crook of his arm. Light hit his eyelids, he could feel the warmth and the red shine of it behind his closed eyes. He blinked, tried to open his eyes against the low hanging morning sun and yawned, stretching a little without really focussing too much on what was in front of him. What he saw, heard and felt was indication enough for him to conclude that Gwilym felt better. The mattress dipped a little and a warm body pushed itself closer to the middle of the bed, jostling Ben a little as he put his arm around him.

‘I missed sleeping in here with you,’ he whispered into his neck, ‘please allow me to stay? I don’t snore anymore, I promise.’

Ben turned a little, facing his boyfriend before opening his eyes enough to see where to put his hand to take Gwilym’s temperature. He hummed contently when he found that he was not as feverish as he had been the evening before. His boyfriend looked at him, eyes no longer glazed over, actually awake and aware of his surroundings. Ben was tempted to ask him whether he had taken his fever drops but opted against it. Instead, his thoughts of the previous night came back to him, the memory of a freak out at the kitchen table over something that seemed obvious in the cold light of the day.

‘Gwil,’ he hummed sleepily against his boyfriend’s neck, ‘let’s have a baby.’

‘Would you like me to get started right now?’ an amused grin appeared on Gwilym’s lips, ‘or do you want to wait until we can be sure that you are not on contraceptives.’

‘Funny,’ Ben wrinkled his forehead.

He could see the cogs turning and working as Gwilym tried to make sense of what he had said. Ben remembered just how tired he had been, maybe he did not even remember?

‘I mean, sure, okay,’ Gwilym’s face grew serious, ‘are you sure you want that, too? It’s a huge responsibility. We will have to plan and buy stuff, sort out our schedules, apply for a nursery place, look through opportunities and paperwork –‘

Ben felt very awake, all of a sudden. Pushing himself onto his forearms and hands, he hovered above Gwilym for a moment before pressing a kiss to his lips to stop him talking. He cut him off in the middle of a sentence that seemed to get a little too panicky for his liking. Pouring his love for him into the kiss, he took hold of Gwilym’s hand and nodded softly.

‘Let’s have a baby!’


End file.
